Draft prospects - Who do we want?

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Wow, so now Towns is a Larmarcus Aldridge or Tim Duncan?

[Coolbreeze44]

WCS defense has gone to a new level late in the season. I like guys like him where his defense is going to be a given, and then anything he gives you on offense is a bonus. Kind of like Andrew this year. If you remember, Wiggins was to be an NBA defender from the beginning and his offense would be a work in progress. I'll gladly take another athletic big that can defend and then hope that the offense develops.

[kekgeek]

WCS defense has gone to a new level late in the season. I like guys like him where his defense is going to be a given, and then anything he gives you on offense is a bonus. Kind of like Andrew this year. If you remember, Wiggins was to be an NBA defender from the beginning and his offense would be a work in progress. I'll gladly take another athletic big that can defend and then hope that the offense develops.

You don't know if his defense is going to be a given though. I think it is hard to predict how defense is going to translate for posts, I mean look at thabeet, biyumbo, even gourgi. All known for their defense and none of them translated into a defensive anchor and are either out of the league or backups

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

WCS defense has gone to a new level late in the season. I like guys like him where his defense is going to be a given, and then anything he gives you on offense is a bonus. Kind of like Andrew this year. If you remember, Wiggins was to be an NBA defender from the beginning and his offense would be a work in progress. I'll gladly take another athletic big that can defend and then hope that the offense develops.

You don't know if his defense is going to be a given though. I think it is hard to predict how defense is going to translate for posts, I mean look at thabeet, biyumbo, even gourgi. All known for their defense and none of them translated into a defensive anchor and are either out of the league or backups

Yup, hard to say with certainty. One thing we can project is that he's not going to be great offensive player. He's already a junior in college and can only do the most basic of post moves. He isn't suddenly going to become an 18 PPG post scorer. He can dunk though!

The other thing that concerns me about him is defensive rebounding. I'm not so sure he can hold his ground in the paint good enough to seal guys off.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Russell had a very poor shooting game, but in terms of basketball skills, he's hands down better than Stanley Johnson. In fact, Johnson might not even be the best player on his team. For a guy so big and strong, he seems to really struggle finishing in the paint.

At this point, I would be really hard-pressed to take Johnson, even if we drop to #5 or 6.

Even after his horrible game yesterday (I only saw the box score...ouch), I'm still really high on Johnson...still have him ranked ahead of Mudiay. Q, I assume from his line today and your comment that Stanley had an awful game in the paint today, but that has not been my observation all year. I've watched him about 6-7 times this year, and I would evaluate him as one of the best finishers I have seen in college...really good at absorbing contact and finishing. That's how he made 45% of his shots despite a jump shot that still tends to be a little flat. And to me he's the most impactful defensive player in college this year too.

Q, I also think I read a comment by you saying something to the effect that we overrate his NBA-ready body because there is little upside for him physically. I think that's unfair. He's only 18, and still has room to get stronger...maybe even taller. But what's really important here is that he doesn't need to get bigger to play in the NBA. How many times do we say a player will be better once he hits the weight room and fills out, and then they seldom do? Give me the guy who can dominate physically right now every time.

Arizona is good, so we should get a chance to watch Johnson against Xavier and Wisconsin...maybe against Kentucky too. Let's see if he can turn things around after such a poor game, and play more like he did in the opening round.

LST, I don't know....I'd love to see the Synergy stats on his FG% by shot location and situation. Other than strength, he doesn't seem to have a lot of skill or creativity to his game in the paint.

As far as his size, I don't see further growth in height or weight. He's built very proportionately - almost like a fire hydrant. That is very different from guys at that age that are still growing. Think about KD, KG, and Giannis. At the same age, these guys were still really lanky with long arms and legs. You could just tell they weren't done growing and filling out yet. No way does Stanley Johnson have more growth/weight to add. In fact, if anything, he might want to shed a few pounds like Shabazz did, especially if he's going to play out on the wing.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

The game changer with WCS is his pick and roll defense and perimeter defense. He's athletic enough to switch on anyone and quick and long enough to alter shots while he is recovering. He won't be an elite rebounder like DJ or post defender, but his PnR defense and perimeter defense is game changing for a big. That's why he's a top 10 pick and not top 4. So you have to ask yourself if you believe post defense or PnR defense is more important.

[Monster]

Imo Towns just hasn't gotten enough opportunity to really allow for projecting him on offense but what I ah e seen is a lot of classic post center feel for the game and that could be pretty useful. If you can get a C that can score 15ppg efficiently and pass reasonably well out of double teams and be a positive effect for team defense well damn that's a good player.

WCS does remind me of Noah. My question for people that have seen him more this year is does he hold his own better than he did last year? He just didn't have the base or strength from what I saw in the breakdown DX did. He looks stronger this year. If you really think you can get a Noah type that would be a sweet consolation prize at the very least. I'm curious to hear what people have to say.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Wow, so now Towns is a Larmarcus Aldridge or Tim Duncan?

I won't compare anyone to Duncan because because that's unfair. But if you wanna throw stats around then they're comparable.

As far as prospect to prospect, Aldridge isn't a bad guy to look at next to Towns. Both 6'11, 250-ish coming out. Aldridge was Big 12 DPOY. If not for WCS, Towns would be SEC DPOY. Both can bang in the post, but also step out and shoot from the perimeter. We forget, but they're was questions about LA's base coming out of Texas too. That's similar to those of you worried that Towns is top heavy.

[BloopOracle]

Oh man, Okafor's strengths and weaknesses are on full display this game

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I like Winslow better than Johnson. He's a much better finisher at the rim and has similar physical tools.